Newstalk ZB
A Mongrel Mob member already deemed one of New Zealand’s highest-risk violent offenders launched a frenzied chair attack on a 73-year-old Corrections staffer while detained under a rare Public Protection Order, a court has heard today. Sonny Tearamoana Waiti, 38, pleaded guilty this morning to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and threatening to kill over the January attack at the secure Christchurch residence where he was being held indefinitely. CCTV footage captured Waiti repeatedly smashing plastic chairs into the elderly victim’s head and body as the man begged him to stop, leaving him with extensive injuries and believing he was “going to die”. During the attack, Waiti told the man, “I will kill you”. Violent offender Sonny Waiti has admitted an attack on a 73-year-old prison staffer. Photo / Corrections Waiti has a lengthy criminal history, including a six-year prison term in 2013 for dragging his girlfriend nearly 2km behind a car. The patched Mongrel Mob gang member locked the woman in a car boot after accusing her of cheating on him. He then drove erratically along State Highway 1 between Tokoroa and Putaruru. The woman tried to escape but her foot got caught and she was dragged at speeds of at least 90km/h for at least 1.6km. She suffered injuries to much of her body and her left leg was later amputated below the knee. Waiti has already received two strike warnings for serious violent offending and was subject to a Public Protection Order (PPO) when he attacked the Corrections staffer. A PPO is a court order that allows the detention of very high-risk criminals at a secure facility within prison precincts. They are civil detention orders that can be put in place for offenders who have served a finite prison sentence, but still pose a very high risk of imminent and serious sexual or violent offending and cannot be safely managed in the community. Sonny Te Aramoana Waiti in the Rotorua District Court. Photo / Ben Fraser A PPO is indefinite and has no expiry date. An order can only be cancelled if the High Court is satisfied that the offender no longer poses a “very high and imminent risk”. Corrections said “only a very small number of people” are subject to PPOs - they were “individuals who have served a prison sentence for a serious sexual or violent offence AND continue to pose a very high risk of imminent and serious sexual or violent offending”. “To be subject to a PPO an offender must have ALL of these characteristics to a high level: an intense drive or urge to enact the particular form of offending; very poor self-regulatory capacity, evidence by general impulsiveness, high emotional reactivity and inability to copy with or manage stress and difficulties; absence of understanding and concern for the impacts of their offending on actual or potential victims; poor interpersonal relationships and/or social isolation,” Corrections states. Waiti was made subject to a PPO on June 25, 2024. Since then, he has been detained at a residence on the grounds of Christchurch Men’s Prison - the only purpose-built facility for offenders subject to a PPO. His latest offending happened on January 20. The victim was a 73-year-old Corrections staffer who worked part-time as an assistant supervisor at the residence Waiti was housed in. Because he is not a Corrections Officer, he was not wearing personal protective equipment such as stab-proof vest and he was not armed. Just before 9am, Waiti was with the victim in a communal hub within the residence. CCTV footage showed Waiti taking a rigid plastic chair from a dining table and moving to sit against a wall. Soon after, the victim walked in and greeted Waiti. The pair engaged in conversation and the victim sat on a desk in the corner of the lounge area. Footage of the attack was provided to the court. Photo / C...
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